


Harry Potter and the Well at the World's End

by mirawonderfulstar



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Fairy Tale Retellings, Happy Ending, I don't actually know what defines a drabble but this is quite short so..., M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:59:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirawonderfulstar/pseuds/mirawonderfulstar
Summary: "Once upon a time there was a young Prince named Severus. Being in possession of neither fortune nor the physical beauty and charms to secure one, he was forced to work for the cruel and violent Lord regent who had ruled his kingdom since he was a small boy…"A Snarry Fairy Tale (a Snairy Tale?) for Happy Snape Week.





	Harry Potter and the Well at the World's End

Once upon a time there was a young Prince named Severus. Being in possession of neither fortune nor the physical beauty and charms to secure one, he was forced to work for the cruel and violent Lord regent, names Voldemort who had ruled his kingdom since he was a small boy. For years Severus endured hardship at his master’s hands, even suffering the death of a young woman he had once loved.

In despair, Severus turned to an old teacher of his, a powerful sorcerer, for advice. The man told him, with a twinkle in his blue eyes, that the only way to free himself from servitude was to travel across the earth and collect in a sieve water from the Well at the World’s End, which was said to bestow everlasting life, and bring it back for his master to drink.

The Prince despaired at this task, for he knew that he was expected to fail and that the Lord would kill him when he returned without the water, if indeed he returned at all, for the land between his master’s realm and the Well at the World’s End was wild land. But he was determined to make the journey anyway, for he had never seen the world nor left his master’s household. Taking three objects gifted to him by the sorcerer, Severus left on his journey.

When he had traveled for a year and a day the Prince arrived at a wood too vast to travel around and too dark to travel through. He met a fellow traveler, a boy, just barely a young man, who offered to show him the way in exchange for a treasured possession. With great reluctance, Severus took out the Wand of Elder the sorcerer had given him and handed it to the young man. It came alight in his hand, and the Prince was relieved, for he had not the type of magic to wield the wand himself. Together they passed through the forest and parted ways.

After a year and a day Severus came to the base of a mountain too vast to travel around and too treacherous to travel through. Although he was momentarily disheartened, he looked around and his spirits lifted as he spotted a well-constructed cabin, which he hurried to and knocked on the door to ask for accommodations for the night. He was greeted by a man in the prime of his life, broad, muscular, who told him he would show him the way through the mountains in exchange for a treasured possession. With great reluctance, Severus took out the Resurrection Stone the sorcerer had given him and handed it to the man. He turned it thrice in his hand, and instantly the cabin was full of the ghosts of those who had died on the mountain, who walked with the pair and told them where danger lay, and the Prince was relieved, for he had not the type of magic to wield the stone himself. Together they passed through the mountain and parted ways.

In a year and a day the Prince came to a field full of magical beasts too vast to travel around and too... well... full of magical beasts to travel through. Looking around, he spotted an old man tending to a small flock of puffskiens, and approached him to ask for help crossing the field. The old man agreed to help Severus in exchange for a treasured possession. With great reluctance, Severus took out the cloak of invisibility the sorcerer had given him, and handed it to the old man. The man flung it over his puffskiens, and Severus was surprised at this use of the cloak, until he realized that the pair of them could travel through the field only if the creatures which the beasts longed to eat were hidden from view. Severus was relieved, for although he could have used the cloak to journey across the field himself, by this time he was used to having a companion and glad of the company. Together they passed through the field.

Now the Prince and his companion came to the Well at the World’s End, and Severus lowered a bucket down into its depths. When he pulled it back up he was startled to find that the old man was watching him intently. He told Severus that although he had relied on the magic of another to reach the well, it was his own magic he would utilize to take the water back to the Lord.

Severus considered this for a moment before reaching into his pockets for his many vials of herbs and powders, for the magic the Prince wielded was that of potions. He turned the water from the Well at the World’s End into a thick substance, incapable of leaking out of the sieve. The old man beamed at him and together they began their return to Lord Voldemort's realm.

When they at last returned to the land of the Prince’s birth, Severus took the water to his master to drink, and the old man accompanied him. But before Lord Voldemort could drink the water, the old man transformed, before Severus’s eyes, into first the man from the mountains and then the boy from the woods. He pulled out the treasures Severus had given him and revealed himself to be the son of the woman Severus’s master had killed. He mocked Lord Voldemort for the lengths he had gone to to become the Master of Death, pointing out that he himself had achieved it merely by providing assistance to a traveler, for owning all three of the treasures which the Prince's teacher had given him made the owner immortal. 

Severus's companion then struck down the Lord, freeing Severus's kingdom from the rule of the one who had oppressed not only Severus, but his people for so long. He bowed to Severus, introduced himself as Harry, and pointed out that now the man who had declared himself Lord and ruled in Severus’s stead was gone, Severus’s kingdom belonged to him once more.

The Prince was at first troubled, for he still had neither a fortune nor the beauty and charms to secure one, and he feared his kingdom would soon fall into chaos for he was no appropriate ruler without these things. How was he to provide for the people? How was he to negotiate with his neighbors? How was he to find a loving wife to continue his lineage and avoid a situation like that which had plagued his land while Voldemort had ruled?

The boy laughed, and laid a hand on the Prince’s shoulder. “You have fortune enough in your sense of justice, your concern for the welfare of others, your loyalty, your wit and intelligence. You will provide for your people with these. Your neighbors will see these traits and say what a good and admirable ruler you are, and you will have advisors who will help to soften your sharp tongue when you speak.”

At this he moved closer and his voice softened considerably. “As to finding a loving wife, I hope you will reconsider, for _I_ love you and wish to remain with you here, if you will have me.”

Severus, hardly believing the vastness of his riches, took Harry in his arms and kissed him. They were married that evening and remain to this day, in a castle that never crumbles in a land that is always green, and in a vault below the castle sit a wand, a stone, a cloak, and a sieve full of water from the Well at the World’s End.


End file.
